Charmed

Charmed is a U.S. television series about three sisters who are powerful good witches known throughout the supernatural community as "The Charmed Ones." Each sister possesses unique magic powers that grow and evolve over the course of their adventures. The Charmed Ones live together in a manor and use their supernatural abilities to battle the warlocks, demons, and other evil forces that populate San Francisco, California.

Overview

Premise

Charmed begins when the three Halliwell sisters come together sometime after the death of their grandmother, Penny. Upon moving into the old family manor in San Francisco, the youngest sister, Phoebe, discovers an old book in the attic. Reading an incantation from the Book of Shadows, she sets in motion events that fulfill an ancient prophecy.

Related Topics:
San Francisco - Book of Shadows

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The sisters discover that they actually are descended from a long line of witches. The first witch in the line, Melinda Warren, prophesied that from her line would come the Charmed Ones. A force of good, they would be three sisters gifted with powers to battle the forces of evil. Prue Halliwell, the oldest sister, has the power of telekinesis and astral projection. Piper, the second-oldest, has the power to change the speed of molecules in objects and people, either slowing them down to the point where they are frozen in time or accelerating them, which effectively causes explosions. Phoebe, the third sister, has premonitions and the power to levitate; in addition, she is an empath (supernatural ability to read others' emotions).

Related Topics:
Charmed Ones - Telekinesis - Astral projection - Premonitions - Levitate - Empath

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After Prue is killed, it is revealed that there is a fourth sister, Paige Matthews, their mother's illegitimate child. She has the power to "orb" in and out from place to place like teleportation, to orb objects to herself or another place, and the power to glamour, which allows her to change her appearance. She has the same mother, Patty Halliwell, as the other three, but her father was their mom's whitelighter Sam. Patty and her Whitelighter lover gave Paige up for adoption, with the sole condition being that the adoptive parents give her a first name beginning with "P".

Related Topics:
Teleportation - Patty Halliwell - Whitelighter - Sam

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A central theme throughout the show's run is the sisters' struggle to balance normal lives with their supernatural responsibilites. The burden of keeping their Charmed destinies a secret from the outside world has repeatedly created tensions in their friendships, workplaces, and romantic relationships. Only a few know their secret and help them on a regular basis. The most important is Leo Wyatt, a whitelighter assigned by the Elders to guide and protect the sisters. Leo means a great deal to the sisters both professionally and personally: he heals their wounds, advises them collectively and individually, and mediates between them and the enigmatic Elders. He also happens to be the love of Piper's life; their romance is an ongoing plot thread that dates back to the first season. A few of the others who haved kept the Charmed Ones' secret over the years (and appeared in the opening credits) are Police Inspectors Andy Trudeau and Darryl Morris, tormented half-demon Cole Turner (a.k.a. Belthazor), and mysterious time-traveler Chris Perry.

Related Topics:
Whitelighter - Elders

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For more indepth summaries of the show's plot and character arcs, visit Charmed Season Summaries.

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Behind the scenes history

The original lineup of sisters was Prudence Halliwell, Piper Halliwell and Phoebe Halliwell, played by Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Lori Rom respectively. Lori Rom only played Phoebe Halliwell in the original series pilot, but left the show due to personal reasons. Alyssa Milano took on the role of Phoebe Halliwell shortly after and portions of the pilot were reshot to incorporate Milano into the episode. The original pilot was never aired, but can be found circulating around the Internet.

Related Topics:
Prudence Halliwell - Piper Halliwell - Phoebe Halliwell - Shannen Doherty - Holly Marie Combs - Lori Rom - Alyssa Milano

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Charmeds ratings were very stable until rumors arose about disagreements between Doherty and Milano, and Shannen left Charmed at the end of the third season. However, this was never confirmed nor denied by Doherty or Milano's publicist. As the fourth season continued, Prue was killed off permanently, and an episode covering the events which lead to the two sisters finding a previously unknown fourth half-sister called Paige Matthews (played by Rose McGowan) was written. The ratings sank as seasons passed. Later seasons are noted by the noticeable decline in make-up and special effects budget. Demons in the early seasons were portrayed as monsterous in appearance (though they could take human forms), but in later seasons most demons appear as humans.

Related Topics:
Paige Matthews - Rose McGowan

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Charmed is currently in its eighth season on WB.

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Licenses

The series, which has been running since 1998, is shown on the WB television network in the United States and on CTV in Canada. The show has been licensed to other networks, such as the Turner Network Television channel, to show reruns. In addition, Charmed can also be seen on satellite and cable channel Living TV and terrestrial channel Five on normal British terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, and on TV3 (Ireland) in Ireland. In Australia, Charmed is primarily shown on Channel 10 which shows the newest episodes, currently in Season 7 and on TV1 on Austar and Foxtel which shows older seasons, currently Season 4.

Related Topics:
1998 - WB - United States - CTV - Canada - Turner Network Television - Living TV - United Kingdom - TV3 (Ireland) - Channel 10 - TV1

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It has also reached the Philippines through Studio 23 - Kabarkada Mo and aired every Monday at 9pm.

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